YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Proponents of an advanced manufacturing training center have identified Youngstown as the best location for the facility, and this week City Council will consider legislation supporting a grant application that would pay for a feasibility study.
The Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition has been working for several years to identify specific skills gaps in manufacturing and at the advanced levels of career pathways, such as advanced machining and welding coursework, said Jessica Borza, MVMC’s executive director.
“The advanced training center would not only house these programs but also would co-locate labs from other participating schools,” Borza explained. “The idea is that it would make more efficient use of the equipment and the facilities. Oftentimes these programs are using the machinery and equipment for just a few weeks of the year, and this way other programs and other students would be able to benefit.”
Earlier this year, Eastern Gateway Community College secured $2.5 million in federal funds for equipment to be housed in the center. “We’ve been leveraging funding from other grant sources to determine the curriculum and kind of build out the program,” Borza said. Youngstown State University, for example, would bring equipment components to the shared center, she noted.
The manufacturers coalition and its partners are pursuing $50,000 from the Ohio Department of Development’s Local Government Innovation Fund for a feasibility study to put together a budget to either build or renovate a location for the training center. The partners “decided that a Youngstown location would make sense for a lot of reasons,” including proximity to YSU and Eastern Gateway, Borza said.
“Of course, there are a lot of things happening in Youngstown related to manufacturing including America Makes, so we think it makes sense for a lot of reasons,” she remarked.
“We also decided that it’s important as a region to have entry-level programming available as a feeder system” at career and technical centers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties “and to centralize the more advanced program,” Borza said. “Our aim is not to compete but rather to create a system of all of the partners.”
City Council will be asked to support the city taking the lead in the application to the Local Government Innovation Fund, said T. Sharon Woodberry, director of economic development for the city. With council’s approval, the city will submit the application for the funding, which is due Monday, she added.
“It’s exciting news,” Woodberry remarked. “The idea of a training center will be significant in further healing our local economy.” Downtown, because of the presence of YSU and Eastern Gateway’s Valley Campus, is “the ideal location” for the center, she said.
Possible locations would be identified as part of the feasibility study, Borza said.
Although site decisions are “a little bit down the road,” Mayor John McNally listed several options, including land available once the former Wean Building demolition is completed, as well as downtown property on the East End that might be available in the long term.
“We’re not certain what’s going to happen with the U.S. Postal Service building,” he added. “Folks are starting to line up to see what can be done with that building.”
The mail processing and distribution center downtown is likely to close at mid-year unless the Postal Service reverses its downsizing timetable.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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